JustErin said:

We just let them run our entire country and turn a cheek

Mysterioso said:

How does smoking weed fuck up someone's image?
It's not like he was flying high at the olympics. Shit, the IOC doesn't even test athletes for weed when they're not performing. This won't hurt him unless he's been using it before jumping into the pool. It's not performance enhancing so the other swimmers should pray he takes a few hits from the bong before suiting up for a meet. I'll raise my spliff in honor of Mike from here on in. Gotta love the guy.

P.S. I wish I knew who the "snitch" was who said "He was out of control from the time he arrived". He needs some back alley "attitude adjustment" aka a good ass kicking.

Graycap23 said:

Dudes the most decorated Olympian ever. People certainly care about that.

MuthaFunka said:

4 swimming.....big whoop.

Mysterioso said:

Sorry, Marion Barry smoked "CRACK" not weed. Big difference. Crack is one of the most destructive drugs on our little planet, the same can't be said of the good good sensi/cali/herb/tampi/grass/weed/pot/mary jane/bush/ganja.

Mars23 said:

Please do some research on the IOC's policy on marijuana use and you might be surprised. It's not a big deal outside of competition. In fact it's a non-issue outside of competition. Marijuana is NOT classified as performance enhancing so there really isn't much emphasis on testing for it. It's a fucking recreational drug just like drinking a fucking beer. Get over it people.

Graycap23 said:

You certainly know who he is and what he did so stop your fakin'.

dseann said:

How can u not? They shove the commercials down your TV throat.

Graycap23 said:

Dude's a beast in the pool though, I can't deny that.

MuthaFunka said:

U never heard of the guy until last summer.....he is the best at what he does but trying 2 make him into a media darling is not working 4 me. The cat has the personality of a pair of socks.

legalize it!

the best swimmer in the world smokes and look where he got in his life so far.

Graycap23 said:

Naw, he blew up at the Olympics before this last one. That Olys set the tone for his record output this past Oly.

JustErin said:

Maybe they do things differently in Canada, I don't know.

RodeoSchro said:

Nope, we're guilty of giving the majority of famous law breaking people free passes as well.

I think the main difference is the US lives blissfully in contradiction all the time. They say they don't want this or that when in actuality they end up doing exactly what they say they don't want/like. Canada doesn't really pretend to be all high and mighty in terms of morality quite like the US does.

JustErin said:

OK.

I read the title as Phil apologizes for drug use and then was very proud mdiver finally admitted his problem!

Canibus Sativa does not harm. It does not harm. RVD is the fucking man! I thought I'd just say that.

Mysterioso said:

This would be a worse and a real story if it were performance enhancing drugs. But really he should have smoked that shit in a locked closet

ya right! Nice attempt to save all those endorsements you're gonna lose!!!!

who cares if he smoked weed. i bet you he isn't the first professional swimmer to do so. I heard some crap on the view about the fact that he's an idol for kids. his smoking weed will send a bad influence on children. to which say HA! your kids have to be stupid to have an idol other themselves.

kenlacam said:

No he won't. Nothing will change for him.

I'm usually high whenever I'm in the pool.
Or maybe I'm thinking of whenever I'm in the tub?
Regardeless,
whenever I feel like I'm drowning,
I can always rely upon my trusty ol' crystal meth to take on the role of an inflated life-vest.

VoicesCarry said:

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't...all I know is that I used to toke when I was a young man (I'm 42 now) and I am in the process of quitting cigs, and I can still bust 14 minutes on my two-mile run test time for the Army...which is worth 100 points in my age group....

reneGade20 said:

Tell these skeptics, man! They're so sure they know it all. As far as I can remember, marijuana isn't even addictive in the slightest. Cigs are. Oh the irony. There's probably some guys around here that would advocate the use of that scummy shit before Canibus Sativa just because the former is authorized by/distributed by the government and peeps indebted to the system, while the latter isn't. tsk....tsk...GODDAMN TSK!

Graycap23 said:

I kind of agree, but his domination was hard to deny. Just because we only saw it for two weeks doesn't mean he's less than any great athlete, just that swimming is less popular. He completely dominated 4 years ago, too, and will probably dominate 4 years from now.

That said, I couldn't care less if he smokes pot, eats wheaties, who he dates, listens to lil wayne, lisps, straightens his teeth, gets a pot belly...

NDRU said:

It's all good.....

Who gives a shit. Live like you want to live. Our heros aint saints, what the fuck. The shit should be legal anyhoo.

Only a very hyprocrite society can really condemn a person for such a stupid thing.

Dear America,

I take it back. I don’t apologize.

Because you know what? It’s none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months a year. It’s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance that’s a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture.

I put myself through hell. I make my body do things nature never really intended us to endure. All world-class athletes do. We do it because you love to watch us push ourselves as far as we can possibly go. Some of us get hurt. Sometimes permanently. You’re watching the Super Bowl tonight. You’re watching 300 pound men smash each while running at full speed, in full pads. You know what the average life expectancy of an NFL player is? Fifty-five. That’s about 20 years shorter than your average non-NFL player. Yet you watch. And cheer. And you jump up spill your beer when a linebacker lays out a wide receiver on a crossing route across the middle. The harder he gets hit, the louder and more enthusiastically you scream.

Yet you all get bent out of shape when Ricky Williams, or I, or Josh Howard smoke a little dope to relax. Why? Because the idiots you’ve elected to make your laws have, without a shred of evidence, beat it into your head that smoking marijuana is something akin to drinking antifreeze, and done only by dirty hippies and sex offenders.

You’ll have to pardon my cynicism. But I call bullshit. You don’t give a damn about my health. You just get a voyeuristic thrill from watching an elite athlete fall from grace–all the better if you get to exercise a little moral righteousness in the process. And it’s hypocritical righteousness at that, given that 40 percent of you have tried pot at least once in your lives.

Here’s a crazy thought: If I can smoke a little dope and go on to win 14 Olympic gold medals, maybe pot smokers aren’t doomed to lives of couch surfing and video games, as our moronic government would have us believe. In fact, the list of successful pot smokers includes not just world class athletes like me, Howard, Williams, and others, it includes Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, the last three U.S. presidents, several Supreme Court justices, and luminaries and success stories from all sectors of business and the arts, sciences, and humanities.

So go ahead. Ban me from the next Olympics. Yank my endorsement deals. Stick your collective noses in the air and get all indignant on me. While you’re at it, keep arresting cancer and AIDS patients who dare to smoke the stuff because it deadens their pain, or enables them to eat. Keep sending in goon squads to kick down doors and shoot little old ladies, maim innocent toddlers, handcuff elderly post-polio patients to their beds at gunpoint, and slaughter the family pet.

Tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll apologize for smoking pot when every politician who ever did drugs and then voted to uphold or strengthen the drug laws marches his ass off to the nearest federal prison to serve out the sentence he wants to impose on everyone else for committing the same crimes he committed. I’ll apologize when the sons, daughters, and nephews of powerful politicians who get caught possessing or dealing drugs in the frat house or prep school get the same treatment as the no-name, probably black kid caught on the corner or the front stoop doing the same thing.

Until then, I for one will have none of it. I smoked pot. I liked it. I’ll probably do it again. I refuse to apologize for it, because by apologizing I help perpetuate this stupid lie, this idea that what someone puts into his own body on his own time is any of the government’s damned business. Or any of yours. I’m not going to bend over and allow myself to be propaganda for this wasteful, ridiculous, immoral war.

Go ahead and tear me down if you like. But let’s see you rationalize in your next lame ONDCP commercial how the greatest motherfucking swimmer the world has ever seen...is also a proud pot smoker.

Yours,

Michael Phelps

http://www.reason.com/new...31438.html